


Happy Birthday

by DonRicci



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Also fluff, I am terrible at titles, Kittens, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-21
Updated: 2011-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-27 17:11:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/298126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DonRicci/pseuds/DonRicci
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and Ianto go on a walk and talk about life. Then fuzzy things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a birthday present for my friend Mary

"Hey, what're you doing here?" Jack put a hand on Ianto's shoulder, startling him.

"Making coffee, sir, as I do every day. Why should today be so different?"

"It's your birthday, Ianto."

"I fail to see why that's of any importance, sir."

"Well." Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto's waist and rested his chin on the other man's shoulder. "Maybe it's not important to you, but it's definitely important to me."

"I'm trying to work here, Jack." Ianto stepped out of Jack's arms and continued with his coffee-making. Jack retreated to his office, pouting. He didn't harass Ianto for the rest of the day.

This almost made Ianto nervous, because it almost certainly meant that Jack was planning something.

At the end of the day, Jack called Ianto up to his office and dismissed the rest of his team, and as Ianto headed up to his boss's office, he wondered if this was a good idea, or if he should just run.

The moment he opened the door Jack grabbed him around the waist, and he was pulled down onto the other man's lap, which sent Jack's rolling desk chair, which Ianto was now regretting agreeing to, flying across the room.

When the desk chair stopped moving against the far wall Jack was grinning maniacally and Ianto was clinging onto him for dear life.

"Happy now, sir?" Ianto glared at Jack, who started laughing.

"Not yet, but I have always wanted to do that." Jack kissed Ianto and set him upright, then stood up himself, "C'mon, let's go for a walk."

"May I ask why, sir?"

"Just humor me. And stop calling me sir, Ianto, at least for tonight? Please?" Jack gave him puppy dog eyes.

"Okay… Jack." Ianto never could resist the puppy dog eyes.

Jack bounced up and grabbed his greatcoat before bounding out of his office. Ianto followed him up to the invisible lift.

"Entrance for tourists, sir?"

"And exit for special occasions," Jack grinned.

Later, as they walked along the darkened edge of the water companionably, night having fallen, Jack grabbed Iantos hand and held onto it like it was a lifeline. "You know, being immortal, it's not as wonderful as people seem to think."

Ianto was always happy to hear Jack talk about himself, his life, and his thoughts. He did it far too little, although Ianto supposed he wasn't one to talk.

"You have to watch everyone die, watch everything die, not knowing if you will yourself. After a while, you stop wanting to get attached, try to distance yourself. You know you'll get hurt. And then someone shows up, and you know, you just know, that you can't let them get away. You won't have much time with them, in the grand scheme of things, but every moment is worth it. With them, present happiness outweighs future pain, and no matter how much you lose, your time with them will always be worth it, worth the pain, worth everything that comes afterwards. As the saying goes, 'tis better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all. It's true. There are always those people, that one person, that no matter how long you live, you will never forget them, no matter how short the time you had them."

Ianto squeezed Jack's hand and bit back tears. He knew Jack, and realized that Jack had just, in that roundabout way he had of saying things, told Ianto he loved him.

"I believe," Ianto said, after some thought, choosing his words carefully, "That there are people that are your destiny. Maybe not The One, sometimes there are several, all as important as the others. There are just those people that, from the moment you meet them, you never won't love."

Jack met Ianto's eyes in the darkness and gave him a genuine smile, that kind of smile that was so full of emotion that you would see it even if you were blind, and Ianto returned it.

Suddenly, Jack tugged Ianto up the drive to a house.

"Jack," Ianto followed, "Where are we going."

"I spotted something earlier today, you said you wanted a cat, right?"

"A bit," Ianto admitted, "I've just never had the time to look for one."

"Well," Jack opened the screen door to the porch and crouched down next to a cardboard box, "There's only two left, but…"

The box said, FREE KITTENS in black sharpie. Jack stood up with a kitten in each hand, one of them, a little grey one with white paws, asleep. The other, a pitch black one with a white dot on it's chest, squirming. He handed the grey one to Ianto, and it yawned and curled into Ianto's chest. The black one put it's paws on Jack's chest and sniffed at his coat.

"I was thinking since we're gone so much for work, you should get two, one can be mine, one can be yours, but we could keep them together so they won't get lonely. Ianto kitty and Jack kitty."

"We're not naming them that, Jack. Plus, they're both girls." Ianto said, cradling the grey kitten a bit closer. "I'll name this one… Heulwyn."

Jack cocked his head at his kitten and it attempted to chew at one of the buttons on his greatcoat, but was unable to fit the whole thing it it's mouth, "Mary."

"C'mon, let's go home," Ianto adjusted Heulwyn in his arms and Jack slipped Mary into his coat pocket. Ianto grinned as the little cat stuck it's head out and put it's paws on the edge of the pocket to survey the scenery.

"Yeah, happy birthday." Jack slid an arm around Ianto's waist, and kissed him on the cheek. "I hope you enjoyed it."

"Yeah, I did, thank you Jack. It was the best birthday celebration I've ever had." And then, after a moment, shyly, "It was the only birthday celebration I've ever had."

"Well," Jack said, "We'll just have to make up for that, yeah?"


End file.
